Great Lakes

Novelist Emily St. John Mandel found out last week she is a fiction finalist for the National Book Award for her fourth novel, Station Eleven.

Set in the eerie days of civilization's collapse, Station Eleven tells the story of a Hollywood star, his would-be savior, and a nomadic group of actors roaming the scattered outposts of the Great Lakes region, risking everything for art and humanity.

The U.S. Farm Bill does more than fund agricultural programs. It is also the source of money for the SNAP, or food stamp program, and is also the largest source of conservation funding in the federal budget. A coalition of groups from the Great Lakes region is calling on federal legislators to pass the Farm Bill.